THE MANUFACTURING sector may be in for another blow if the imitation of the widely-used Benjamin's Rubbing Alcohol is an indication of the direction fraud is taking in Jamaica.P.A. Benjamin, one of Jamaica's oldest manufacturing companies, placed an advertisement in last Monday's Gleaner warning consumers to beware of a fake product on the market.
The company said it received complaints from consumers about the poor quality of the product. In addition, the company said it had experienced a 24 per cent decline in sales. The company attributed the decline to the existence of the fake item on the market.
"We heard about a Benjamin Rubbing Alcohol several months ago and we began investigations (which) accelerated in May this year when we received complaints from consumers," stated company Marketing Consultant Yvonne Johnson in a fax responding to Sunday Gleaner questions.
Tests were done on the fake product, revealing that it contained only 43.3 per cent, isopropyl, the main component, while the original has 70 per cent. Variations in the details of the label on the fake item are evident except for the prominent "Benjamins Rubbing Alcohol" logo across the top.
"We did send two bottles of the fake product to the Jamaica Bureau of Standard for them to check the claim '70 per cent Isopropyl Alcohol by volume'. The Bureau confirmed that the clone product had only between 43-51 per cent," Mrs. Johnson stated.
While imitation of name brand clothing and footwear is common in Jamaica, it is rare that Jamaican-manufactured products have been spoofed here, and right under the noses of P.A. Benjamin, The Fair Trading Commission (FTC) and the Jamaica Bureau of Standards (JBS).
Checks with the JBS, FTC, Copyrights Unit of the Organised Crime division of the police and the Copyrights Unit of the Ministry of Commerce and Technology reveal that no report had been made about the fake products. But heads of each of these organisations said they had never heard of this type of fraud in Jamaica.
But Benjamin's has had to contend with a similar matter before, when two of their products were imitated. That problem was eliminated before it caused the company significant loss.
"...Several years ago we had a fake Benjamin Healing Oil and an imitation of the Benjamin Magnesium Trisilicate Label. However the problem was not as extensive and it was quickly dealt with," stated Mrs. Johnson.
Perpetrators face a range of criminal and civil charges, ranging from copyright infringement, misleading advertising, breaches of the Standards Act, infringement of trademark as well as the seizure of goods.
